iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
SAMRIDH, a healthcare blended finance facility that has been strengthening India’s health systems and solving emerging healthcare challenges, has won the P3 Impact Award at the 2022 Concordia Summit for collaborating and addressing societal challenges.
SAMRIDH stands for Sustainable Access to Markets and Resources for Innovative Delivery of Healthcare and the voluntary outfit is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by IPE Global. It works in collaboration with the Indian government’s Atal Innovation Mission (NITI Aayog), Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, the National Health Authority, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Delhi), Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Caspian Debt, Rockefeller Foundation, Crypto Relief, and NATHEALTH.
SAMRIDH works to address the weak health systems and persistent shortage of skilled workforce and infrastructure in India, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic. It combines commercial capital with public and philanthropic funds to drive greater investments in market-based health solutions.
The immediate goal of SAMRIDH is to bridge the supply-side gaps in emergency health services and accelerate India’s response to COVID-19. In the long term, it aims to strengthen comprehensive health services to improve access to affordable and quality healthcare for vulnerable communities and build resilient health systems to effectively respond to future health emergencies.
Aiming to improve access to affordable and quality healthcare services for India’s most vulnerable, SAMRIDH drives greater resources towards market-based health solutions by combining commercial capital with public and philanthropic funds.
SAMRIDH has mobilized a capital pool of $250 million to offer both grant and debt financing provision to healthcare enterprises and innovators, to augment their capacity for production and supply of high-impact health solutions. This is complemented with strong technical assistance and capacity-building component, enabling enterprises to unlock new sources of capital through blended financing solutions, for long-term sustainability and expansion.
Armed with initiatives complimenting the public sector efforts and a mission to ensure that everyone gets access to high-quality and affordable healthcare services, SAMRIDH aims to support private sector enterprises to effectively contribute toward India’s SDG aspirations, including an integrated Health System offering Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The work and contributions of SAMRIDH bore fruit when the Office of Global Partnerships at the US Department of State, the University of Virginia Darden School of Business Institute for Business in Society, and Concordia announced on September 20 that the Sustainable Access to Market and Resources for Innovative Delivery of Healthcare (SAMRIDH) Blended Finance Facility is the winner of the P3 Impact Award at the 2022 Concordia Summit.
At the award ceremony, the US Department of State’s Special Representative for Global Partnerships, Dorothy McAuliffe, after delivering her remarks, crowned SAMRIDH Blended Finance Facility as the winner at the 2022 Concordia Summit during the UN General Assembly high-level week.
McAuliffe had later tweeted: “Proud to announce that @SamridhHealth is the winner of the @ConcordiaSummit P3 Impact Award! SAMRIDH, working w/@USAID, is taking major steps to address the supply-side gaps in India’s health services & accelerate India’s response to COVID-19. Congrats!”
The annual P3 Impact Award recognizes exemplary cross-sector collaborations that feature public, private, nonprofit, or non-governmental organizations addressing societal challenges.
“SAMRIDH Blended Finance Facility is the eighth public-private partnership (P3) to win the annual award. Each year, P3s are celebrated for leading the way in providing innovative solutions to pressing issues in areas such as economic growth and development, sustainability, and global health,” said the US Department of State in a statement.
An independent panel of judges made SAMRIDH their final decision after a video presentation and an open discussion with award nominees. Other 2022 award finalists recognized for their excellence in partnership included: Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, Partnership for Central America, Plastics Solution Alliance, and School the World Community Schools.
